best price to performace with server parts

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Message 1984059 - Posted: 8 Mar 2019, 5:28:16 UTC

i will be retying some old pc's that did seti and a few other projects. some time this year.
i notice on ebay tons of super cheap server parts compare to normal pc parts.
that i would like to use for boinc. also to learn the tech to for later projects i will be using 1 for.
what would be price and performance wise. good for parts?
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Message 1984063 - Posted: 8 Mar 2019, 6:10:46 UTC - in response to Message 1984059.  
Last modified: 8 Mar 2019, 6:11:43 UTC

i will be retying some old pc's that did seti and a few other projects. some time this year.
i notice on ebay tons of super cheap server parts compare to normal pc parts.
that i would like to use for boinc. also to learn the tech to for later projects i will be using 1 for.
what would be price and performance wise. good for parts?


Some of the best, used server prices are probably for e5-2670 v1 cpus. These use the LGA 2011 motherboard. Usually, you need to search for R type sockets and DDR3 ram.

There are some single socket with 7 pcie slot motherboards for $300 or less on eBay. Last time I priced a 2670 it was $64.
If you want something like an e5-2690v2 (10 c/ 20 t, 3Ghz, Turbo 3.3Ghz) its more expensive. About $242/cpu.

I have also seen a dual cpu MB for the e5-26xx with 7 pcie slots running abit over $300.

One Setizen has a dual cpu server MB with 11 pcie slots. The MB is bit pricey at $500-$800 depending on where you get it. It also will not fit in any standard form factor case so you are pretty much committing yourself an open air, Miners type rig. Yes, he is driving a lot of gpus with it.

HTH,
Tom
ps. the LGA 2011 socket comes in at least 3 variations. Don't get an R1 version or the V3/V4 aka: R2 unless that is really what you wanted. You want the R socket aka: V1/V2.
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Message 1984128 - Posted: 8 Mar 2019, 15:42:39 UTC - in response to Message 1984063.  

Some of the used MB and Workstation motherboards have proprietary power connectors. Example HP Z-400 and more than one Dell Server MB has non-standard PSU plugs.

If you buy a Supermicro, Asrock etc MB they appear to have standard PSU connectors.

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Message 1984192 - Posted: 8 Mar 2019, 20:56:46 UTC - in response to Message 1984128.  

ok. yeah am surprise their no real build list for this project.
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Message 1984197 - Posted: 8 Mar 2019, 21:30:43 UTC - in response to Message 1984192.  

The no built list could be due in part that the Seti team has developed apps that will run on almost any hardware.
Like my AMD4200+, it runs CPU tasks fine, but the energy used is just not worth it for taking 8 hours a task to complete, when the cheap Pi's can do it much cheaper.

Sometimes going old and cheap is not the answer either since you will pay for it on your power bill.

Personally I would say you will get the biggest bang for you buck by getting an older computer with PCIe x16, and put a decent GTX 10xx, or 20xx series card in it.
Then only run GPU tasks which will give you much more performance per Watt.
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Message 1984248 - Posted: 9 Mar 2019, 5:18:37 UTC - in response to Message 1984197.  

i was looking into mining mobo. but their still issues with that. due to they ruse the bios for them and the boards to.
why i mention the server stuff is the sheer amount of deep discounted parts. compare to other used pc parts.
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Message 1984281 - Posted: 9 Mar 2019, 14:28:59 UTC - in response to Message 1984248.  

i was looking into mining mobo. but their still issues with that. due to they ruse the bios for them and the boards to.
why i mention the server stuff is the sheer amount of deep discounted parts. compare to other used pc parts.


In another thread, Mining boards have been discussed extensively. They have QA issues in that the hardware is either reliable or it isn't (dies fast, doesn't boot when you get it etc).

I believe our most successful Mining board user is TBAR (yes, he is the "all-in-one" guy).

He probably is getting the "most bang for the buck" out of his cpu/mb combo.

I like more cpu cores than a typical Mining board supports.

Just ordered a used $129USD 7 slot, dual 2cpu socket (lga 2011 v1/v2) MB from eBay.

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Message 1984313 - Posted: 9 Mar 2019, 19:08:45 UTC - in response to Message 1984281.  

any brand should i look for?
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Message 1984316 - Posted: 9 Mar 2019, 19:57:07 UTC - in response to Message 1984313.  

I'd avoid mining specific motherboards. They have QC problems. Tbar already had to RMA one or two of them. and a couple other people that tired them have had issues as well. even guys who were using them for only mining (SETI is a harder workload) had issues with them. they are cheap, and cheaply made. you get what you pay for in my opinion.

Supermicro X9 series motherboards are great. the single and dual socket versions of their ATX boards can be had for reasonable prices on eBay. E5-2600v2 series Xeon CPUs are relatively efficient, and the performance is great for the price. DDR3 Registered ECC RAM is also quite cheap.

it's my current go-to recipe at the moment and it's been working out great.
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Message 1984369 - Posted: 10 Mar 2019, 9:39:49 UTC - in response to Message 1984316.  

ok i will look into later tonight. you can click and see what my old set up is. the quad core and the 6 core are separate from me.
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Message 1984566 - Posted: 11 Mar 2019, 16:24:03 UTC

I bought 3 servers with e5-2660 and 32GB RAM and filled out their 4 drive arrays for total of about $1300 in October 2017.
The Gridcoins paid for all of them and the property taxes on the house (this winter, made about $40... *sigh*)

Looking at stepping up to v3 server while keeping the price/core ($14) similar while performance/core and performance/watt hold steady or improve.
The DDR4 RAM is the nasty cost bottleneck.
Next winter maybe the economics will be better.
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Message 1984600 - Posted: 11 Mar 2019, 19:29:24 UTC - in response to Message 1984369.  

ok i will look into later tonight. you can click and see what my old set up is. the quad core and the 6 core are separate from me.
Actually, I haven't had any trouble with the ASUS Mining Expert. Other than a few Slots only running at PCIe Gen2 instead of PCIe Gen3. The Only Mining board I've had major problems with were the Gigabyte Mining boards. So, based on My experience, I'd say stay away from the Gigabyte Mining boards. If you do get a ASUS board, I highly suggest you read the Manual and follow it closely.
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Message 1984637 - Posted: 12 Mar 2019, 1:30:26 UTC - in response to Message 1984600.  

what normal cpu do put in this and ram spec
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Message 1984685 - Posted: 12 Mar 2019, 6:09:44 UTC - in response to Message 1984637.  

This is the site page, https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/B250-MINING-EXPERT/specifications/
This is were I got mine; ASUS B250 MINING EXPERT LGA 1151 Intel B250 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Cryptocurrency Mining Motherboard
It's even cheaper now. I wonder if I should get a Backup, NewEgg gave me a refund on the Gigabyte board. I may need a backup....
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Message 1984778 - Posted: 12 Mar 2019, 15:12:42 UTC - in response to Message 1984600.  

ok i will look into later tonight. you can click and see what my old set up is. the quad core and the 6 core are separate from me.
Actually, I haven't had any trouble with the ASUS Mining Expert. Other than a few Slots only running at PCIe Gen2 instead of PCIe Gen3. The Only Mining board I've had major problems with were the Gigabyte Mining boards. So, based on My experience, I'd say stay away from the Gigabyte Mining boards. If you do get a ASUS board, I highly suggest you read the Manual and follow it closely.


Thank you for the distinction. I remember the reports of having to RMA some of your MB's but didn't remember brands.

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Message 1984943 - Posted: 13 Mar 2019, 15:10:06 UTC - in response to Message 1984566.  

I bought 3 servers with e5-2660 and 32GB RAM and filled out their 4 drive arrays for total of about $1300 in October 2017.
The Gridcoins paid for all of them and the property taxes on the house (this winter, made about $40... *sigh*)

Looking at stepping up to v3 server while keeping the price/core ($14) similar while performance/core and performance/watt hold steady or improve.
The DDR4 RAM is the nasty cost bottleneck.
Next winter maybe the economics will be better.


On the other hand, if you just want a few more cores and faster cpu processing, those e5-2690v2's are not as expensive as a V3 box maybe. You can go up to 10c/20t with Turbo to 3.3GHz (assuming the MB's bios cooperates). Or if you want even more cores but not as much speed there is the e5-2697v2 (12c/24t) at 2.7Ghz? Not sure what they would turbo it. The 2697's are significantly more expensive though.

Tom
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Message 1984946 - Posted: 13 Mar 2019, 15:15:25 UTC - in response to Message 1984943.  
Last modified: 13 Mar 2019, 15:15:51 UTC

E5-2697v2 turbos to 3.0 GHz all core.
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Message 1986340 - Posted: 21 Mar 2019, 14:04:40 UTC - in response to Message 1984685.  

This is the site page, https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/B250-MINING-EXPERT/specifications/
This is were I got mine; ASUS B250 MINING EXPERT LGA 1151 Intel B250 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Cryptocurrency Mining Motherboard
It's even cheaper now. I wonder if I should get a Backup, NewEgg gave me a refund on the Gigabyte board. I may need a backup....


@Tbar,
In the context of Seti processing, I want the most threads for the above MB, I can find for the least amount of money. I think I am talking at least 8 threads. What are the best choice(s) [presumably, used}?

Tom
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Message 1986351 - Posted: 21 Mar 2019, 14:55:48 UTC - in response to Message 1986340.  
Last modified: 21 Mar 2019, 14:57:25 UTC

This is the site page, https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/B250-MINING-EXPERT/specifications/
This is were I got mine; ASUS B250 MINING EXPERT LGA 1151 Intel B250 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Cryptocurrency Mining Motherboard
It's even cheaper now. I wonder if I should get a Backup, NewEgg gave me a refund on the Gigabyte board. I may need a backup....


@Tbar,
In the context of Seti processing, I want the most threads for the above MB, I can find for the least amount of money. I think I am talking at least 8 threads. What are the best choice(s) [presumably, used}?

Tom


the most CPU threads you'll get that is compatible with that motherboard (B250 chipset) is 8. B250 chipset only supports 6th and 7th generation Intel Core CPUs. you can use core i5's also, but since they lack hyperthreading, only having 4 cores and 4 threads, you'll have to reduce CPU usage by not using the -nobs option. but an i5 would be cheaper still.

i7-6700
i7-6700T
i7-6700K
i7-7700
i7-7700T
i7-7700K

are your only options for 8 threads. the i7-6700 is likely the cheapest that will give you 8 threads.
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Message 1986445 - Posted: 22 Mar 2019, 1:14:00 UTC - in response to Message 1986351.  

are your only options for 8 threads. the i7-6700 is likely the cheapest that will give you 8 threads.


Thank you. It was beginning to feel as straight forward as a bowl of spaghetti.

Tom
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